USA: Dozens show up at San Jose event to learn what the Holy Quran does say

Members of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Silicon Valley last week held an exhibition on the Holy Quran and other Islamic readings in an effort to unite and educate others.

Dozens of neighbors turned up at the three-hour event on Feb. 12 at the Pearl Branch Library to learn about the 11 points of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's nationwide True Islam campaign, which seeks to counter the negative publicity Islam has received due to terrorist groups such as ISIS. Imam Ahmad Salman and other volunteers handed out literature and answered questions about the Islamic faith. They explained how certain passages from the Quran are distorted by terrorist groups, resulting in an extremist interpretation of religious scriptures.

"What you see--ISIS--that is not a true depiction of the religion itself," Salman said. "That's like looking at the KKK and basing on that, or painting with the same brush, that all Christians are like the KKK."Last year's terror attack on the headquarters of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris is a prime example of how Islamic extremists have twisted the meaning of the words of Prophet Muhammad, according to Salman. He said Muhammad was always merciful, even to those who spoke out against him.

"He forgave them because the Holy Quran mentions he is the mercy for mankind," Salman said.